Meet Our Colleagues
Being named Top Employer 2026 by FOCUS Business is an honor. But what truly defines a workplace are the people behind it. We invited three colleagues from different departments to share their perspectives in their own words. Here is what they had to say.
Celine Catalan
Department: R&D
Role: Senior Optical Engineer
Office: Headquarters, Böblingen, Germany
Celine, what does a typical day look like in your role?
I can’t say what is typical for me because my tasks for the day can vary a lot – which makes it interesting! As an R&D Physicist, I do a lot of testing for new products being developed, new features that we want to roll out, or special customer-related projects. I also help our Production Team and other colleagues to troubleshoot and solve issues. Depending on the priorities for the day, you might see me either cooped up in the DAS Lab the whole day or running around from one part of the office to the other, talking to different colleagues.
What drew you to this field in the first place?
I’ve loved science ever since I was young! I learned to read early and my mother read with me all kinds of books -- from fiction to science books. Because of it, I’ve shifted my interest throughout the years from wanting to be a neurosurgeon to a paleontologist and to an astronomer – which finally led me to pursue Physics. Once I got introduced to lasers and light in the University, I got hooked and pursued laser-related research for many years. Now at AP Sensing, I find it fascinating how light and fiber sensing can be used to detect the tiniest and the biggest signals to save lives and infrastructure.
Who inspires you (inside or outside of your field)?
Many people have inspired me throughout the years, but right now, my young daughter does. Being a woman in STEM is so rewarding but frankly, quite lonely. Women in technical roles remain at < 30% worldwide. Women in leadership roles – even less. I work and do my best at my role, so that as my daughter grows up, she sees women doing STEM not as an exception or rarity, but rather as a norm. When I tell her that she can be whatever she wants in the future, she would believe it because she lived it and saw it at home.
Klaus, how has your role evolved since you started
I started at AP-Sensing as a production engineer, being responsible for the calibration software and the calibration measurement setups. At that time, we were only 2 people in production, and it was interesting to have an overview of the complete production process from building the instruments to really shipping them. Since then, AP-Sensing has grown over the past 16 years and in the course of time I became production manager with now 10 people working in production. When I started, we only had one instrument series, whereas nowadays we have several different instrument series.
What do you enjoy most about your role at AP Sensing
What I enjoy most is being in contact with all the different parts of the company like R&D, orders, support and sales. It’s challenging to keep track on delivery times and handle issues in the supply chain or in the calibration of the instruments. The introduction of new products is another point, which is a challenge, but on the other hand satisfying if you see the new instruments working and enhancing the performance of our temperature or acoustic sensing.
What’s your go-to way to recharge outside of work
In fact, the main point to recharge /charge outside my work is the way to work and back home. Most of the time I use my bike to get to work and back home and that is roughly one hour for each way where I can think about what happened during the day or what will be the challenge for the next day. Another possibility to recharge is singing either alone at home or in a choir.
Klaus Koeffers
Department: Production
Role: Production Manager
Office: Headquarters, Böblingen, Germany
Zaigham Abass Klasra
Department: Project Engineering
Role: Technical Services Manager
Office: MEA & India Office, Kingdom of Bahrain
Zaigham, what do you enjoy most about your role at AP Sensing?
The role that mostly stands out and my personal favorite is training others on our products such as DTS, DAS and SmartVision. I truly enjoy training our clients and contractors who later utilize this transferred knowledge in realizing the benefits of our solutions. Furthermore, training teammates and observing harmony in their performance is usually a relishing moment. I believe that knowledge exchange events such as training sessions are paramount in effective utilization of AP Sensing cutting-edge products.
What motivates you to come to work every day?
There are several dimensions of morning motivation, and the most effective one is application of our technologies. As the world keeps changing at high pace, so as the complexity of challenges we face on different projects. The experience, training and a refined knowledge of our products enable us to work on various applications simultaneously and ensure that intended value is being delivered. Moreover, the continued efforts which we confluence as a team in becoming world’s leading DFOS manufacturer is a reasonable motivator. So, each day is a part of our team’s journey to excel.
What’s something you’ve recently learned, at work or in life?
As result of my personal Kaizen, I have recently learned to cook a native dish named “Suhbaat” which literally means being together and usually dinned while sitting together in a circular fashion. As cooking is a fulfilling endeavor, I use it not only to learn about different spices, their specific textures and recipes, but also to relieve my mind with a tasteful ending, of course! Moreover, I enjoy opting for professional development courses such as Program Management Professional certification which contribute greatly to my work.